Reliance Jio in 2019: What to expect from the telco this year

Here’s what we can expect from the fastest growing telco in 2019.

Reliance Jio introduced its telecom service in 2016 with the launch of its 4G VoLTE network. Following the same, the company has come up with several innovations and is one of the fastest growing telcos with over 250 million subscribers. 2018 was a great year for the telco as it introduced the much-awaited GigaFiber broadband service, reached a milestone in terms of number of subscribers and more.

Given that we have stepped into 2019, we can expect the company to have some big plans related to expansion of its broadband service, launch of the GigaTV service and more products and services. Here, we have come up with a list of things that we can expect from Reliance Jio in 2019.

Jio GigaFiber broadband expansion

The Jio GigaFiber broadband service was launched in July alongside the JioPhone 2 at the company's annual general meeting. However, the broadband service is yet to be rolled out widely all over the country. As of now, it is available in some cities based on the response from the interested subscribers. The service is actually being rolled out to new consumers gradually.

We can expect the wider rollout of this service to happen sometime in March this year. It is likely to announce the tariff plans of the service as well at the same time.

Jio GigaTV

Besides the GigaFiber, the company is expected to showcase the GigaTV service at the next AGM to happen later this year. It will use the available bandwidth for the company's growing fibre network to provide TV channels with 4K support and video calling among other services. If this turns out to be true, we can expect the company to eat a major chunk of the country's DTH market.

JioPhone 3

Following the success of the JioPhone and JioPhone 2, the company is expected to be working on the third generation model allegedly dubbed JioPhone 3 in mid-2019. We can expect this smartphone to come with improvements over the 2018 model. However, the device remains a mystery as yet.

Affordable smartphones with large screen

A recent report tipped that the company is in discussion with a US-based contract manufacturer Flex related to smartphone production in India. Given that the Jio brand offers 4G feature phones, we can expect the company to come up with affordable smartphones with a big display for the mass consumers.

Partnerships and acquisitions

In 2018, Jio witnessed notable partnerships and acquisitions and we can expect the same to continue in 2019 as well. Well, the company teamed up with Star India for cricket content, AltBalaji and Eros and entertainment content and Zee for TV channels. Recently, it launched the JioSaavn app, which requires even the subscribers of the telco to pay for the service after the trial period.

Jio VoWi-Fi service

A recent report tipped that Jio might officially launch the VoWi-Fi feature sometime this year. It is said to be under trials since July 2018. After the testing period, it is said to have been expanded to select states. With VoWi-Fi, the telecom operators can keep users connected even when there is no cellular signal. It is said that the smartphones will get a software update bringing support for VoWi-Fi.

Jio Smart Home

Jio is not limited to GigaFiber or GigaTV alone. It is aimed at realizing a complete connected home platform. The smart home services include Wi-Fi extenders, door sensors, smart plugs, smart speakers, audio/video dongle, TV cameras, thermostats, etc. The company is expected to offer the smart home solutions sometime after the commercial rollout of the GigaFiber service.

Enterprise services

After rolling out the telecom space in India, the Jio appears to be all set to rollout enterprise services. These services are reportedly in the soft launch phase in the next few quarters. As per the reports, the company is likely to rollout enterprise services such as cloud services, unified communications, managed video conferencing, etc.

Jio 5G

While we are years away from the rollout of 5G services, Jio appears to be working on the next-generation network. As per reports, the telco will launch 5G services within six months after spectrum auction to happen in mid-2019.

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